Lessons

[Captain Smollett]

Okay, I was browsing over at Passagemakesr again (they entertain me, what can I say), and I saw this little nugget:

Perils of Setting Out with No Experience

Scroll all the way to the bottom to read the story, as that forum posts new-at-the-top.

Man, there is a BUNCH of armchair quarterbacking going on over there.  Then, they have a whole discussion about licensing boaters.

My thoughts about this family?  Maybe they are not ready to cross an ocean, but:

1. Who am I do decide that for them?  If they want to try, that is THEIR decision.
2. They are "out there" and trying to learn.  From the brief discussion, it sounds like they are learning, at least SOMETHING about anchoring.

I get a bug up my hind-end whenever people start coming out of the woodwork saying "you must take lessons."  To me at least, that's just nuts.  I've done a LOT of things in my life without lessons.  I climbed on the glaciers of Mt. Rainier in the winter without lessons.  I've skied down mountain slopes without lessons.  Now, in the most important job I've ever had, I am a parent without lessons.

I confess I did take a one-day sailing lesson.  I had been reading about sailing in books and magazines for years.  I had been on boats as 'passenger' (not crew).  I thought I understood the concepts, and I believed I could sail a boat, perhaps clumsily, on my own.  I don't recall just how I came into contact with Bob, but I agreed to sail with him for a one-day lesson.  I was careful to explain that I *thought* I understood the mechanics and wanted to see if I could put it into practice.

Bob understood; he said he would make the lesson what I wanted it to be; he would not force me to listen to lectures on "this is a clew, this is a sheet."  We had a great day on the water, sailing in February with about 10 kts of breeze from the west.  He started by letting me get the feel for his CD Typhoon Oblivion on a close reach and I practiced steering a straight line.  I learned about trimming a genoa for close hauled work, and enjoyed the first thrill of spray over the bow.  He took the tiller while I went forward to change the genny for the working jib, and it was from Bob that I learned (and still use) the rule of ALWAYS, ALWAYS wear a PFD when forward underway.  That was his rule on his boat, and it has since become my rule on my boat.

We tacked, we jibed, ran wing-and-wing and we anchored for lunch.  During this time, I learned that Bob was a kindred spirit: like me, he was a scientist, and like me, he was a former science teacher.  We talked a lot about teaching and about lessons.  We talked about the big lessons science can teach to children, and the big lessons sailing can teach to all of us.  We talked about rig failures and accidents at sea.  We talked about working as a professional mariner (Bob had his 100 Ton ticket and worked on a tug boat along the East Coast).  Bob was my first sailing friend.

It is with some regret that I realize I have lost touch with Bob.  We stayed in communication for some time, and even belonged to the same saiilng club for a while.  Then one day, I noticed Oblivion was no longer in her slip.  I asked around.  Bob had moved away.  I thought about trying to contact him, but for some reason felt that I shouldn't. 

All of this was years ago.  I've been thinking about towing the boat over to what became his home waters after that move and just seeing if I could see Oblivion around.  It sure would be great to see her again.  And Bob, too.